Nokia not big on India, sees the market as its "least favourable" for doing buisiness

It would appear that Nokia isn't too keen on India these days. At least from a manufacturer's stand point. The issue at hand seems to be a hefty tax bill that has the Windows Phone OEM considering the country its "least favourable" market to operate in.

Nokia is fighting a $20 Billion rupee tax demand from the Indian Government (about $311 million U.S.). A tax burden that may have Nokia move the manufacturing of their mobile phones to China and import them to the Indian market.

At the heart of the issue seems to be taxation on software downloaded to Nokia's smartphones. Nokia says the software should be taxed in Finland under a treaty with India. India believes the software should be taxed under it's tax laws.

Nokia's presence is rather large in India employing about 8,000 workers in one of the largest plants world wide in Chennai, India as well as a strong consumer market.

The tax dispute with India isn't a Nokia exclusive. India is facing similar challenges from other International companies such as Vodafone and Shell Oil. All likely a result of India's efforts to increase tax revenue by collecting delinquent taxes to help address a growing budget deficit.

Nokia urged the government to "act quickly to correct the wrong perception of India as a place for business".

This is about manufacturing, though. A manufacturing dispute could sway some consumers, but often doesn't. I wish it did, I wish more people were concerned about where their purchases were manufactured.

Headlines like these are found on some of those commercial news channels that are more worried about the number of people watching then the actual content of the story. Sorry WPC, but that's what I felt about the headline after reading the article.

Because of importing expenses. If they manufacture devices in India and sell them in India, they don't have to worry about transportation. If they move to China, then they will have to pay transportation expenses.

Spelt is the same as spelled, and correct as the past tense of spell. It's not just a "British" thing but used interchangeably with spelled in most English-speaking countries like the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand etc. Even dictionary.com lists it, and that is typically biased toward US spelling. Next you'll be telling us that "colour", "civilised", "grey", and "aluminium" are spelt incorrectly.

Thanks for the clarification guys, I was wondering how he had managed to misspell so many words improperly, but thankfully it was just my lack of experience outside of America except for India, which tended to be more Telugu based than English... so.... ne ways thanks guys

True.. Now India cant even reverse it(i guess) releasing these charges would only push it further down.. Which would compel investors to further withdraw shares rather than see that the policy is more liberal.. I don't much about finance so i maybe terribly wrong..

This is not about selling handsets but about production of handsets. Nokia hasn't learned how to do business in India. They have to learn a lesson on how to keep the Indian royal family happy. All their worries will disappear the minute they learn this lesson.

I hope this does not compromise Nokia's windows phone lineup in India.Nokia have already gone crazy by pricing their lumia devices very high in India.Why is 925 more expensive than 920 ? And why is 625 as much as an 820?Pricing is key and Nokia is screwing themselves.No wonder Galaxy S4 is selling like hot cakes in India while nobody is touching hi end Lumias.L520 is the only VFM product from Nokia.

Im from Chennai where nokia has the plant,yes there is some hardship for nokia sue to tax issues levied by the govt. But Nokia's factory is rather large in terms of infrastructure,labour and investment

The truth is that lot of companies( big & small, indian & MNC ) have not paid their taxes in last few years. They have used the various loopholes in tax interpretation and a corrupt government never sent timely notices.
. Now since the elections are coming and the ruling party doesn't have funds for implementing popular schemes, they started sending tax notices with retrospective clauses, adding upto huge sums.

so the bottom line is Nokia is wrong here and will have to shell out those amounts if the matter is settled by the courts. So they are now trying the pressure tactics (like investment, jobs). Nokia wouldn't have done this in western countries but took their chances in India. But their is a saying " taxman and wife never forgets", and it applies globally.